1169 And Counting.....

Friday, April 28, 2006

Hunger Strike Rally , GPO , Dublin , Saturday May 6th 2006 .
Remembering the Hunger-Strikers 25 years on.
A rally to commemorate the heroic struggle of the ten hunger-strikers : Bobby Sands, Francis Hughes, Ray McCreesh, Patsy O'Hara, Joe McDonnell, Martin Hurson, Kevin Lynch, Kieran Doherty, Thomas McElwee, Michael Devine - who gave their lives in 1981- will be held in Dublin on Saturday May 6 2006 . Assemble at the Garden of Remembrance at 2pm for march to GPO on O'Connell Street.
"They will not criminalise us, rob us of our true identity, steal our individualism, depoliticise us, churn us out as systemised, institutionalised, decent law-abiding robots. Never will they label our liberation struggle as criminal."
- Bobby Sands.
Twenty-two Irish political prisoners died on hunger-strike between 1917 and 1981 . The Dublin Rally is being held to commemorate all those Irishmen .

ORANGE JUDGE EXECUTED.
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .
No 'By-Line' .

The IRA's execution of Judge William Doyle , a 'token Catholic' in the corrupt Orange judiciary in the North of Ireland , sent shock waves of anguish and anger through the pro-British establishment in the North , and through the Catholic middle class ad Catholic hierarchy who objectively assist the British presence .

Two days after the killing , Bishop Cathal Daly , who had been rather more circumspect in his criticism of recent RUC shoot-to-kill murders of nationalists , was prompted to describe those in the Irish republican tradition as representing - " ...the gravest danger which has been created for Belfast Catholicism for half a century . "

Responding to Bishop Daly's denunciation at the time , the IRA said - " Two weeks ago , we asked Bishop Daly to rule on a number of questions which we posed , and he refused to answer because he could not answer without exposing his pro-British sympathies ....... "
(MORE LATER).

Thursday, April 27, 2006

MacGIOLLA's GUERRILLAS .......
Fifteen years ago , the leadership of the 'Official Republican Movement' (now 'The Workers' Party') stated that their armed wing , the 'Official IRA' , went out of existence .
Today , the 'Official IRA' is alive and well and living mainly in Belfast and Newry . In the days when both organisations were operating in an overt way , the leadership of 'The Workers' Party' and the 'Official IRA' overlapped to a certain degree .
Tomas MacGiolla , the man who led the 'Official IRA' for the last twenty-five years has always maintained the position that the 'Official IRA' went out of existence in 1972 . But the 'Official IRA' still march on , not an army fighting the British , but as a fund-collecting agency .
DEREK DUNNE traces the roots of the 'Official IRA' and 'The Workers' Party' .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , October 1987 .

The Army Council of the Official IRA was elected from the OIRA Army Convention , and the Council in turn appointed the OIRA Executive . The Army Council were party to and conscious of all policy decisions taken . OIRA Officers Commanding from all command areas attended meetings from time to time - Belfast , County Derry , Derry City , Newry South , Armagh , Donegal , Dublin , Waterford , Cork and Limerick .

Between 1969 and mid-1972 , when the Official IRA called its ceasefire , they actively engaged the British Army : this is today presented by members of the Workers' Party as some kind of 'aberration' . By 1972 , the Official IRA had about 150 active members in Derry ; they were arranged into companies and battalions and had an assortment of old weapons - MI's , Winchesters , M3 Grease guns , Garrand rifles and some 303's : they were all bolt action weapons .

On at least three separate occasions , Tomas MacGiolla made his way to Derry to talk with the Official IRA Command Staff there ; one occasion was when OIRA member Joe McCann was killed in action . The OIRA Command meeting was called to discuss what retaliation should take place as a result of the killing but , by the time MacGiolla arrived in Derry , the Official IRA had already shot dead two British soldiers . The OIRA Derry Command also consulted with other members of the Workers' Party in those days , such as Sean Garland , Andy Smith and Larry Malone .
(MORE LATER).

LIAM MELLOWS AND THE IRISH CIVIL WAR .......
This is the bulk of a public lecture given at University College , Galway , by Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle member and Deputy General Secretary of the 'Local Government and Public Services Union' , Phil Flynn , on December 8th 1982 , the 60th Anniversary of the Free State's execution of Liam Mellows .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

In an article published two weeks after his execution , Liam Mellows wrote -
" In its 'Programme of Democratic Policy' , Dail Eireann laid down that the soil of Ireland and all that grew upon it and lay under it , as well as all the wealth and wealth-producing processes in the country , should belong to the people .

In the last analysis , the fight between the Irish people and the British government is not alone one between two nations : it is more than that - it is a struggle between two systems of civilisation , between the feudal system of England under its present guise of industrialism and the democratic system upon which the old civilisation of Ireland was built .

A vestige of that civilisation remains in Ireland today - it is growing , expanding , and the end of foreign rule in Ireland will usher in not alone a new political era in Ireland , but a new economic one as well . "

[END of 'LIAM MELLOWS AND THE IRISH CIVIL WAR']
(Tomorrow : 'ORANGE JUDGE EXECUTED' - from 1983)

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

MacGIOLLA's GUERRILLAS .......
Fifteen years ago , the leadership of the 'Official Republican Movement' (now 'The Workers' Party') stated that their armed wing , the 'Official IRA' , went out of existence .
Today , the 'Official IRA' is alive and well and living mainly in Belfast and Newry . In the days when both organisations were operating in an overt way , the leadership of 'The Workers' Party' and the 'Official IRA' overlapped to a certain degree .
Tomas MacGiolla , the man who led the 'Official IRA' for the last twenty-five years has always maintained the position that the 'Official IRA' went out of existence in 1972 . But the 'Official IRA' still march on , not an army fighting the British , but as a fund-collecting agency .
DEREK DUNNE traces the roots of the 'Official IRA' and 'The Workers' Party' .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , October 1987 .

Sean Garland was also on the OIRA Army Council by virtue of the fact that he was Adjutant General of the OIRA . Michael Ryan was on the OIRA Army Council because he was the Director of Intelligence : Seamus Costello because he was Director of Operations . Other members were Derry Dineen , Quartermaster General and Sean Kenny , International Affairs . Malachy McGurrin was 'Officer Commanding' of the Official IRA in the North and was also on the OIRA Army Council . Eamonn Smullen also attended meetings following his return from Britain in 1973 .

While it is publicly known that Cathal Goulding was on both the OIRA Army Council and its Executive by virtue of the fact that he was OIRA Chief of Staff , the other leading members of what is now the Workers' Party were less than forthcoming about the part they played - in public , none have ever admitted being on the OIRA Army Council , the supreme decision-making body of that organisation . Neither have any stated publicly when , if at all , they relinquished their posts .

Eamonn Smullen was another very influential figure in that movement ; he had spent time in Portlaoise Prison during 'the Emergency' ; he had been aligned with the Communist Party in Britain and was active in the trade union movement . Eamonn Smullen was convicted in Britain of conspiring to buy arms and returned to Ireland in 1973 - it was he who developed the 'infiltrationist tactics' of the Workers' Party , the objective of which was to saturate various areas such as the media and the trade unions with members and supporters of the Workers' Party . In this they have been largely successful .......
(MORE LATER).

GARDA GUN FIRE : WHO TO BELIEVE.......?
Close analysis of television news film of incidents last month at Emyvale suggests a garda's gun went off accidentally . But that is not what the Minister of Justice told the Dail .
GENE KERRIGAN looks at the evidence.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1987 .

Criticism of the garda involved , Detective Sergeant Joe Darwin from Monaghan , is beside the point - in a traumatic event he acted as he thought best - he clearly believed that his life and the lives of his colleagues were under threat . He was entitled in that situation to use his gun . * ( * '1169...' Comment : the fact remains that a trained armed member of the State Gardai fired weapons at un-armed protestors . Criticism of said member should not , in our opinion , be dismissed as being "beside the point" .)

In photographs taken from a tape of the RTE News film of the incident , it can be clearly seen that the plainclothes garda cradles his revolver in both hands ; the gun is cocked . His arms are relaxed and bent , the gun is not aimed - it is pointing straight ahead at the bank of the stream . This is not a firing position - a garda deliberately firing a gun in this position would be acting extremely irresponsibly . Yet this is the scene a fraction of a second before the gun is fired . Then the gun fires . The smoke from the discharge can be faintly seen against the right arm of the uniformed garda (on his left) . The gun is now pointing up at an angle of 45 degrees , 'kicking up' into that position as a result of the recoil as the gun fires .

A fraction of a second later and the garda on his left can be seen to have 'flinched' at the sound of the shot . As stones and other objects , thrown by members of the crowd , land in the stream (where the gardai are) , the garda on the right of the garda with the gun 'flinches' : he is trying to move down to where his colleague is trapped in the over-turned car . The plainclothes garda now raises the gun to a firing position but does not fire - he simply points the gun at the crowd . The uniformed garda on his left turns to the plainclothes garda and grasps his shoulder - this uniformed garda is holding the Uzi submachine gun which was previously used . The uniformed garda on his left has now pushed his colleague back against the wall at the far side of the stream , and has apparently persuaded his colleague to lower his revolver .......
(MORE LATER).

LIAM MELLOWS AND THE IRISH CIVIL WAR .......
This is the bulk of a public lecture given at University College , Galway , by Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle member and Deputy General Secretary of the 'Local Government and Public Services Union' , Phil Flynn , on December 8th 1982 , the 60th Anniversary of the Free State's execution of Liam Mellows .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

In an article by Liam Mellows , entitled 'Labour and Irish Republic' , which was published in 'Voice of Labour' on 23rd December 1922 , he stated -
" Industries will receive encouragement ; employment will increase ; the natural resources of the country tapped ; emigration stopped ; education put on a proper basis , and direct contact with the outside world established . Yet all this , resulting as it would in the country being richer and more prosperous , would not mean that the freedom of Ireland has been attained if the economic system remained unchanged .

A political revolution in Ireland , without a co-incident economic revolution , simply means a change of masters - instead of British capitalists waxing rich on the political and economic enslavement of Ireland , as at present , we would have Irish capitalists waxing rich on the political freedom , but continued enslavement , of Ireland . We do not want a change of masters : it would be foolish , surely , to free Ireland from foreign tyranny today , and less than twenty years hence to have to free it from domestic tyranny . Therefore , the Irish Republic must have for its foundation the people . It is they who are freeing Ireland , and it is for the people - all the people - that it is being done , not for any section or group .

The Dail Eireann had this clearly in mind when , at its first session , in January 1919 ,it issued its 'Programme of Democratic Policy'....... "
(MORE LATER).

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

MacGIOLLA's GUERRILLAS .......
Fifteen years ago , the leadership of the 'Official Republican Movement' (now 'The Workers' Party') stated that their armed wing , the 'Official IRA' , went out of existence .
Today , the 'Official IRA' is alive and well and living mainly in Belfast and Newry . In the days when both organisations were operating in an overt way , the leadership of 'The Workers' Party' and the 'Official IRA' overlapped to a certain degree .
Tomas MacGiolla , the man who led the 'Official IRA' for the last twenty-five years has always maintained the position that the 'Official IRA' went out of existence in 1972 . But the 'Official IRA' still march on , not an army fighting the British , but as a fund-collecting agency .
DEREK DUNNE traces the roots of the 'Official IRA' and 'The Workers' Party' .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , October 1987 .

The 'Civil Rights' movement started - it was not controlled by Sinn Fein , although there were Sinn Fein members in it . The loyalists attacked nationalist areas in August 1969 : Roy Johnston's 'script' had nothing in it about armed defence of the population - his theory has assumed that people could exercise basic democratic rights , which were presumed to exist under 'Stage One' of the 'Stages Theory' .

The 'Theory' fell to pieces as the IRA scrambled to get guns to defend the people : the old militarists returned and made much play about the fact that there was no guns to defend anybody - the Dublin administration became involved in funding defence committees : there was a split within Sinn Fein and the IRA - the Provos and the Officials were born , in 1969 - two armies emerged which were to develop in radically different ways .

Between 1969 and 1974 , the political and military control of the Official IRA was vested in more or less the same people , and that situation continued for a number of years into the 1970's . Tomas MacGiolla was Chairman of the OIRA Army Council , Chairman of the the Army Executive (the body responsible for the day-to-day running of the Official IRA and membership of which largely overlapped with the OIRA Army Council) and Chairman of the OIRA Army Convention , the assembly of OIRA Volunteers . This latter group had not met once between 1969 and 1972 .......
(MORE LATER).

GARDA GUN FIRE : WHO TO BELIEVE.......?
Close analysis of television news film of incidents last month at Emyvale suggests a garda's gun went off accidentally . But that is not what the Minister of Justice told the Dail .
GENE KERRIGAN looks at the evidence.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1987 .

There are several reasons why the State offers up a different version than that of what millions actually witnessed during the 'Emyvale Incident' , when a garda , Detective Sergeant Joe Darwin , from Monaghan , 'discharged' his weapon :

1). It is important that the circumstances in which garda weapons are discharged are monitored and that such actions be accountable .
2). In November 1982 , a young Dublin man , Eamonn Byrne , was shot dead by a garda at the North Wall in Dublin . Byrne had been arrested and was in handcuffs . The garda's gun went off accidentally . Questions arise about the reliability of garda weapons and the ability of gardai to use their guns in a controlled manner . In March 1986 , a garda detective fired shots in a far from controlled manner when gardai were attempting to arrest Evelyn Glenholmes . The detective had to be restrained by a Sinn Fein member .
3). If TV viewers can see that the official 'explanation' of a shooting does not square with the evidence , the reliability of the State Minister for Justice and of the gardai and the status of Leinster House are put in question . ('1169...' Comment - for Republicans , it does not take a garda shooting for those , or any other , 'institutions' of this State to be 'called into question'.)
4). Above all , the public is simply entitled to frankness and honesty from public servants and representatives .
(MORE LATER).

LIAM MELLOWS AND THE IRISH CIVIL WAR .......
This is the bulk of a public lecture given at University College , Galway , by Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle member and Deputy General Secretary of the 'Local Government and Public Services Union' , Phil Flynn , on December 8th 1982 , the 60th Anniversary of the Free State's execution of Liam Mellows .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

Further evidence of the depth of the political consciousness of Liam Mellows is apparent in the following extracts from an article by him entitled ' Labour and Irish Republic' , published in 'Voice of Labour' on 23rd December 1922 , two weeks after his execution :

" When one talks of freedom for Ireland , one should have clearly in mind what is meant by Irish Freedom . Freedom and independence , as used at present , are terms so ambiguous as to mean anything , or nothing . The mere act ot setting up a Republic is not a panacea for all the ills that trouble Ireland . Measures more far-reaching than that are required if Ireland is to enjoy real freedom .

The revolution going on in Ireland has a threefold aspect - it is intellectual , it is political , it is economic . Of the intellectual aspect , it is sufficient here to say that Ireland , to be free , must be Irish , must be as free from the domination of alien thought as from alien armies of occupation . The end of the political struggle , the withdrawal of the British Army and British officials from Ireland , and the international recognition of the Irish Republic , will be the means of solving many of the present economic and social problems there , enabling the Government of Ireland to devote its entire attention to the internal matters of this country . "
(MORE LATER).

Monday, April 24, 2006

MacGIOLLA's GUERRILLAS .......
Fifteen years ago , the leadership of the 'Official Republican Movement' (now 'The Workers' Party') stated that their armed wing , the 'Official IRA' , went out of existence .
Today , the 'Official IRA' is alive and well and living mainly in Belfast and Newry . In the days when both organisations were operating in an overt way , the leadership of 'The Workers' Party' and the 'Official IRA' overlapped to a certain degree .
Tomas MacGiolla , the man who led the 'Official IRA' for the last twenty-five years has always maintained the position that the 'Official IRA' went out of existence in 1972 . But the 'Official IRA' still march on , not an army fighting the British , but as a fund-collecting agency .
DEREK DUNNE traces the roots of the 'Official IRA' and 'The Workers' Party' .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , October 1987 .

The nucleus of the then Republican Movement , which included Roy Johnston , Cathal Goulding and Tomas MacGiolla , took a decision to effectively drop the physical force emphasis which had existed within the IRA and Sinn Fein ; it was Roy Johnston who argued that if links were sufficiently forged between the people and the Republican Movement it would be possible for their representatives to enter 'illegal' places such as Leinster House without being corrupted . ('1169...' Comment - a slightly updated version of those same words was to be used later by 'Johnston'-type figures , again in an attempt to turn a revolutionary movement into a political party .)

Sinn Fein involved itself with agitations , housing-rights and 'fish-ins' ; it moved away from the 'simplistic' view that the border could be removed exclusively through violence : but , as it did so , the older and more militarily-minded among its members moved away from the Movement . Roy Johnston was in favour of launching a civil rights movement in the North , and wanted the IRA to control it ; the 'socialist strategy' adopted by Roy Johnston called for an expansion of the base of the party into urban areas through involvement in agitations . In time , that traditional rural base would be eroded completely , as the party moved from a position of being on the side of small farmers to one where they were against all farmers !

Apparently this change was adopted because they wished to capitalise on the rural/urban divide and show up the differences between the two ; in that they were largely successful , and the party prepared in those heady days for the inevitable socialist triumph that appeared to be just ahead . They had also taken up the 'Stages Theory' which , while not a new concept by any means , was adopted specially for the Irish situation : it held that agitation around the civil rights issue in the North would be a means to allow 'democratic capitalism' to be established . The working class , North and South , would come together , with 'the Final Stage' believing that the 'powers-that-be' would act repressively towards this class and then a co-ordinated militant action would overthrow capitalism on the whole island . The 'Theory' was a breakthrough for a movement which had for so long stagnated and was a specific 'tactical blueprint' for action .......
(MORE LATER).

GARDA GUN FIRE : WHO TO BELIEVE.......?
Close analysis of television news film of incidents last month at Emyvale suggests a garda's gun went off accidentally . But that is not what the Minister of Justice told the Dail .
GENE KERRIGAN looks at the evidence.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1987 .

On Tuesday , May 19th , 1987 , the 'Irish Press' newspaper reported '...a stormy meeting..' within the Garda Representative Association at which it was decided to raise the matter (of the gunfire incident) with the Garda Commissioner ( Laurence Wren) : the image of the Gardai force had been hurt , the 'Press' newspaper was told by its sources , because on TV the garda in the stream was seen to discharge his gun "...wildy.." and by "...accident.." .

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors Executive (AGSI) had their routine monthly meeting with the Garda Commissioner on Monday , May 18th , 1987 , and the 'Emyvale Incident' was NOT discussed ! But the following day , the AGSI was contacted by members in County Monaghan , following publication of the leaked story from the Garda Representative Association . On Wednesday , May 20 , 1987 , the 'Irish Press' newspaper printed a vehement denial from the AGSI , who claimed that the garda , Detective Sergeant Joe Darwin from Monaghan , fired "...on purpose.. " : the AGSI said that the garda "... felt he had no option but to discharge a warning shot to quieten the crowd " .

This statement , like that of the State Minister's , Gerry Collins , is a denial of what millions of people saw on their TV screens ; there are several reasons why this is of consequence .......
(MORE LATER).

LIAM MELLOWS AND THE IRISH CIVIL WAR .......
This is the bulk of a public lecture given at University College , Galway , by Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle member and Deputy General Secretary of the 'Local Government and Public Services Union' , Phil Flynn , on December 8th 1982 , the 60th Anniversary of the Free State's execution of Liam Mellows .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

In December 1933 , Cumann na mBan stated - " The same , small owning class is still as powerful as ever . It commands our land , our industries , our means of wealth , and may well it sneer at the colour of our pillar boxes . Its chief concern is to distract our attention from the power it possesses over our land and our liberties . It rejoices at every issue we raise , at every action we take which does not challenge its power .

In the North , religious prejudices are inflamed ; in the South , political rivalries are encouraged , minds are excited and passions are aroused on issues , the outcome of which does not interfere with its undisputed domination . The Fianna Fail cabinet (some members of which were the comrades of Liam Mellows years ago , but who can never have shared his views) have failed to avail of their opportunity to weaken the power of our enemies . It remains for us to define the sort of freedom we are working for , in order to ensure that the coming of the Republic will mean the changing of the whole social system .

The organisation of the production of food and industry for USE instead of profit : the ending of oppression and exploitation of man by man - in short , the happiness of all the people of Ireland , for which Liam Mellows fought and died . "
(MORE LATER).

Friday, April 21, 2006

National 90th Anniversary Rally , Saturday , 22nd April 2006 : Assemble Garden of Remembrance , 2pm .
Musical Night , Saturday 22nd April 2006 : 'Saints and Sinners' pub , North King Street , Dublin . Doors open 8.30pm . Admission EURO 10 .
"Damn your concessions , England . We want our country!"

LIAM MELLOWS AND THE IRISH CIVIL WAR .......
This is the bulk of a public lecture given at University College , Galway , by Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle member and Deputy General Secretary of the 'Local Government and Public Services Union' , Phil Flynn , on December 8th 1982 , the 60th Anniversary of the Free State's execution of Liam Mellows .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

Commenting in December 1933 , on the life and times of Liam Mellows , Cumann na mBan stated :

" Writing of transport and the banking system , Liam Mellows wrote - " All transport , railways , canals etc will be operated by the State - the Republican State - for the benefit of the workers and the farmers . All banks will be operated by the State for the benefit of industry and agriculture , not for the purpose of profit-making by loans , mortgages etc . That the land of the aristocracy (who support the Free State and the British connection) will be seized and divided amongst those who can and will operate it for the nation's benefit ."

Cumann na mBan continued - " Eleven years have passed since Liam Mellows was silenced forever by a British bullet . Eleven years of native rule ! In those years our pillar boxes have changed from red to green , our enemies' uniforms have changed from khaki to green , and may become grey . Our coins have changed from king's head to pigs and hens , and our very name has changed from Ireland to the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland , and may shortly be christened a 'Republic' . Yet fundamentally the organisation of the people's lives has remained unchanged : the same hunger , want , insecurity and man-made misery stalk through the length and breadth of Ireland ....... "
(MORE LATER).

Thursday, April 20, 2006

LIAM MELLOWS AND THE IRISH CIVIL WAR .......
This is the bulk of a public lecture given at University College , Galway , by Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle member and Deputy General Secretary of the 'Local Government and Public Services Union' , Phil Flynn , on December 8th 1982 , the 60th Anniversary of the Free State's execution of Liam Mellows .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

While others saw only the symbol of the oath of allegiance to a foreign king , Liam Mellows understood that the purpose of British policy was to create a political garrison in Ireland to replace the military garrison whose position had become untenable . Mellows saw that out of the revolutionary movement itself , a political party had been formed whose existence was bound up with retaining intact the British system of law , politics and social relations : that the old colonial relationship was preserved in a new form .

The significance and continuing relevance of Liam Mellows is well expressed in the following extract from an article on his life and aims published by Cumann na mBan in December 1933 , the 11th anniversary of his execution :

" Under the Fianna Fail government , industry is organised for the benefit of the British combines or for the British or Irish capitalists . The Fianna Fail government actually boasts of industries being set up under these conditions . Recently it is rumoured that three foreign firms are about to start the manufacture of cement in three different parts of Ireland . Imagine a government of men professing a love of , and an interest in , their country , permitting the private ownership - at this stage of the world - of such a vital necessity as cement ! It is no wonder England is not disturbed at the prospect of losing political control of part of this country while she is assured of the economic domination of the whole country . "
(MORE LATER).

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

EASTER RISING 1916-2006 : 90th Anniversary Events organised by the Republican Movement -

Easter Sunday , 16 April 2006 : Deansgrange Cemetery , Dublin , 1 pm . Assemble at Cemetery gates and march to Republican Plot .
Easter Monday , 17 April 2006 : Assemble Garden of Remembrance , Parnell Square , Dublin , 2 pm . March to GPO .
National 90th Anniversary Rally , Saturday , 22nd April 2006 : Assemble Garden of Remembrance , 2pm .
Musical Night , Saturday 22nd April 2006 : 'Saints and Sinners' pub , North King Street , Dublin . Doors open 8.30pm . Admission EURO 10 .
"Damn your concessions , England . We want our country!"

GARDA GUN FIRE : WHO TO BELIEVE?
Close analysis of television news film of incidents last month at Emyvale suggests a garda's gun went off accidentally . But that is not what the Minister of Justice told the Dail .
GENE KERRIGAN looks at the evidence.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1987 .

Gardai very rarely fire their guns . When they do , their actions become the subject of public scrutiny ; the facts are required to be explained to Leinster House by the State Minister for Justice .

On Wednesday , May 11 1987 , Gerry Collins gave an account of incidents of two days previously , in Emyvale , County Monaghan , when a garda detective fired both from a submachine gun and a revolver . Collins' account denied the truth of what was evident from the TV news reports seen by hundreds of thousands of people . The garda's revolver was seen to have been discharged accidentally . As a result of what happened , two garda representative organisations have been drawn into conflict with one another over the facts and the interpretation of the facts .

The Garda Representative Association and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors have tangled with each other publicly as to whether the gun was fired accidentally or not . The incidents happened on the evening of Monday , May 11 , 1987 , at Emyvale , County Monaghan , when the body of James Lynagh , one of the eight IRA members killed in the ambush at Loughgall , was being carried through the town on its route from the North of Ireland to Monaghan . There was a confrontation between gardai and the Provisionals when the latter fired shots over Jim Lynagh's coffin .......
(MORE LATER).

LIAM MELLOWS AND THE IRISH CIVIL WAR .......
This is the bulk of a public lecture given at University College , Galway , by Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle member and Deputy General Secretary of the 'Local Government and Public Services Union' , Phil Flynn , on December 8th 1982 , the 60th Anniversary of the Free State's execution of Liam Mellows .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

On 11th September , 1922 , Liam Mellows wrote to Austin Stack : -
" The unemployed question is acute . Starvation is facing thousands of people ; the official Labour Movement has deserted the people for the flesh-pots of Empire . The Free State government's attitude towards striking postal workers makes clear what its attitude towards workers generally will be . The situation created by all these must be utilised for the Republic . The position must be defined : FREE STATE - Capitalism and industrialism - Empire . REPUBLIC - Workers - Labour . "

There is strong evidence that Liam Mellows was very influenced by James Connolly and certainly they had a lot in common politically as is clear from these documents . For example , the connection between the national and social struggles and the sense of internationalism . As Desmond Greaves points out in his book - " In his analysis of the character of the proposed Free State he must surely have been one of the first to discuss the new methods of imperial domination ... " (subsequently christened 'neo-colonialism') .

His insistence on politics , his demand for a return to the masses as the basis of the revolution , for the political education of republican soldiers , and for the establishment of a new revolutionary government , show him to have been as Peadar O' Donnell justly remarked - " ...the richest mind our race has achieved for many a long day .. "
(MORE LATER).

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

MacGIOLLA's GUERRILLAS .......
Fifteen years ago , the leadership of the 'Official Republican Movement' (now 'The Workers' Party') stated that their armed wing , the 'Official IRA' , went out of existence .
Today , the 'Official IRA' is alive and well and living mainly in Belfast and Newry . In the days when both organisations were operating in an overt way , the leadership of 'The Workers' Party' and the 'Official IRA' overlapped to a certain degree .
Tomas MacGiolla , the man who led the 'Official IRA' for the last twenty-five years has always maintained the position that the 'Official IRA' went out of existence in 1972 . But the 'Official IRA' still march on , not an army fighting the British , but as a fund-collecting agency .
DEREK DUNNE traces the roots of the 'Official IRA' and 'The Workers' Party' .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , October 1987 .

In April 1987 , Workers Party boss Sean Garland wrote a fifteen-page letter to the editor of 'International Affairs' , a Moscow-based publication , in response to an article about the North of Ireland which had appeared in the paper . In his letter , Sean Garland stated that in 1969 "...the Provisionals began what has continued to this day , a vicious campaign of sectarian assassination .. " but , throughout the letter , there was barely a mention of the Official IRA - the army traditionally aligned to Official Sinn Fein , and what is now The Workers' Party .

In a comment on Bloody Sunday in 1972 , Sean Garland stated that the occasion "...provided the Provisionals and their allies with material to attempt to justify their own terrorist activities .. " . ('1169...' Comment : this ploy [ie the attempt to use the fact that there is opposition to a foreign power as 'justification' as to why that foreign power is there -'to keep the peace'] is still being employed by those in Leinster House against Republicans .) There was no mention of the Aldershot bombing , which was carried out by the Official IRA at the time : at Aldershot , which was the Official IRA response to Bloody Sunday , five cleaning women , a gardener and a priest were killed by a 280 pound bomb at the Parachute Regiment Headquarters .

Neither did Sean Garland tell 'International Affairs' of the fact that the Official IRA shot dead unionist politician Senator Jack Barnhill , or that they attempted to assassinate John Taylor , another unionist politician . Neither did Mr. Garland mention that the Official IRA killed dozens of British soldiers .......
(MORE LATER).

SEAN O' CALLAGHAN : AN UPDATE .......
From 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1998 .
By Ursula Halligan.

'Magill' magazine understands that Sean O' Callaghan has recently done a volte face on the subject and is now privately denying that he murdered John Corcoran ; on January 5 last (1998) , Eileen Corcoran , widow of John Corcoran , spoke to RTE's Pat Kenny on his morning radio show about her frustration over the failure of the gardai to question O' Callaghan about his claims . Mrs. Corcoran told 'Magill' that she experienced a great response to the interview -

" So many people came up to me and said they heard me . Many said they never realised what I had been going through until then , " she said . However , Mrs. Corcoran said she was disappointed that the gardai had not contacted her following her interview with Pat Kenny .
[END of 'SEAN O' CALLAGHAN : AN UPDATE']
(Tomorrow - 'GARDA GUN FIRE : WHO TO BELIEVE?' - from 1987.)

LIAM MELLOWS AND THE IRISH CIVIL WAR .......
This is the bulk of a public lecture given at University College , Galway , by Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle member and Deputy General Secretary of the 'Local Government and Public Services Union' , Phil Flynn , on December 8th 1982 , the 60th Anniversary of the Free State's execution of Liam Mellows .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

In a modified version of these documents addressed to Ernie O' Malley there are added two further sub-sections , one suggesting the immediate drafting of a Republican Constitution , presumably as an alternative to the Free State constitution , and the other headed 'Military' which declares the outstanding important questions to be intelligence , arms and ammunition , communications , and England . Liam Mellows wrote a further letter to Austin Stack on 11th September 1922 -

" A propos to what I wrote to you sometime ago : the events of the last few days have , I think , made it more clear that what I suggested should be done - it has done more , it has made it imperative . The Free State has shown by Saturday's performance that it was the Provisional Parliament provided by the Free State Act , and not the Third Dail that met .

Therefore the question arises at once - where is the Government of the Republic ? It must be found , Republicans must be provided with a rallying centre , and the Movement with a focussing point ....... "
(MORE LATER).

Monday, April 17, 2006

MacGIOLLA's GUERRILLAS .......
Fifteen years ago , the leadership of the 'Official Republican Movement' (now 'The Workers' Party') stated that their armed wing , the 'Official IRA' , went out of existence .
Today , the 'Official IRA' is alive and well and living mainly in Belfast and Newry . In the days when both organisations were operating in an overt way , the leadership of 'The Workers' Party' and the 'Official IRA' overlapped to a certain degree .
Tomas MacGiolla , the man who led the 'Official IRA' for the last twenty-five years has always maintained the position that the 'Official IRA' went out of existence in 1972 . But the 'Official IRA' still march on , not an army fighting the British , but as a fund-collecting agency .
DEREK DUNNE traces the roots of the 'Official IRA' and 'The Workers' Party' .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , October 1987 .

Belfast Workers' Party councillor Seamus Lynch last week called for full support for the RUC ; another Workers' Party spokesperson in Belfast , Mary McMahon , has consistently called for full support and co-operation with the RUC by nationalists . ('1169...' Comment : the 'Workers' Party' left the Republican Movement in 1969 and slowly began the metamorphosis into not only an anti-Republican political party , but an actual pro-British criminal gang : such was the price demanded for their admittance to the 'establishment' . Those same demands are being made again to a slightly different grouping , and will be conceeded to , again .)

But the current positions of both McMahon and Lynch contrast sharply with what De Rossa has said : in an interview with 'Gralton' magazine in October 1983 , * Prionsias De Rossa (* '1169....' Comment : who was then still with the 'Workers Party' - ie before he helped to form 'Democratic Left' and also before he joined the 'Labour Party' . That is , when he was only 'slightly constitutional' ... ) said - " We have policy , developed as far back as 1975 , of demanding the de-militarisation of the RUC . So we , in fact , give only qualified support to the RUC , with demands that it be reformed , de-militarised and have a complaints procedure etc " . This volte face , while it may appear insignificant on the surface , goes to the heart of the contradictions within the Workers' Party . ('1169....' Comment : the issue of 'policing' in the Six Counties is again causing contradictions for those who now follow in the footsteps of the 'Workers Party' . )

The Workers' Party have a tightly structured centralist organisation , with more or less the same people running the show for the past twenty-five years . One of the most influential of these has been Sean Garland , current General Secretary of the Workers' Party .......
(MORE LATER).

SEAN O' CALLAGHAN : AN UPDATE .......
From 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1998 .
By Ursula Halligan.

Sean O' Callaghan , who has been living in Britain since his release from jail , told 'Magill' magazine he was always available to speak to the gardai and that his mobile phone number had been available to journalists for the last 12 months . In early December , 'Magill' gave the gardai his mobile-phone number . The garda who spoke to Sean O' Callaghan is the officer who was appointed over a year ago to investigate claims , first made by O' Callaghan in 1988 and repeated in interviews with 'The Sunday Times' and 'The Boston Globe' newspapers , that he murdered John Corcoran and that he warned the gardai several times that John Corcoran's life was in danger .

In the interview with 'The Sunday Times' in 1992 , O' Callaghan said he informed the gardai about Corcoran's abduction and where Corcoran was being held captive : he said - " When I returned , I removed Corcoran to a shed . I had him quiet and calm . He thought it was going to be a press conference . I wanted him to think that , because I fully expected gardai to arrive and all of us to be arrested and questioned . The police did not come , and three hours later I put a Beretta machine-pistol to Corcoran's head and shot him dead . "

However , when interviewed by 'Magill' in December 1997 , Sean O' Callaghan would neither confirm nor deny the previous accounts he gave to newspapers on how he murdered John Corcoran .......
(MORE LATER).

Friday, April 14, 2006

SEAN O' CALLAGHAN : AN UPDATE .......
From 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1998 .
By Ursula Halligan.

IRA informer John Corcoran was an epileptic father of eight and a low level garda informant whose body was found in March 1985 in a field in south Kerry ; he had been shot in the head .

The Christmas issue of 'Magill' magazine revealed evidence that gardai knew in advance about plans for the murder but failed to intervene ; there was also evidence of garda reluctance to investigate the murders , including their failure to question Sean O' Callaghan while he was held in prison in the North for eight years for the murder of two members of the British 'security forces' and following his release in December 1996 .

'Magill' has now learned that last Monday , 19 January 1998 , a senior garda officer spoke to Sean O' Callaghan on Mr. O' Callaghan's mobile phone and requested an interview : Mr. O' Callaghan agreed , and it is expected that senior garda will travel to Britain next week to interview him about his role in the murder . Up until now , gardai have told 'Magill' that they were unable to contact O' Callaghan because they did not have his phone number. * ( * '1169...' Comment - Note to self : in order to avoid being 'contacted' by the gardai in future , make sure they don't have your phone number !)
(MORE LATER).

LIAM MELLOWS AND THE IRISH CIVIL WAR .......
This is the bulk of a public lecture given at University College , Galway , by Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle member and Deputy General Secretary of the 'Local Government and Public Services Union' , Phil Flynn , on December 8th 1982 , the 60th Anniversary of the Free State's execution of Liam Mellows .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

" 5. Fianna : We must concentrate on youth - salvation of the country lies in this - both boys and girls . Fianna never get proper help or encouragement , yet the Fianna ideal can save the future . The reason for so many young soldiers going wrong is that they never had a proper grasp of the fundamentals : they were absorbed into the Movement and the fight - not educated into it . Hence no real convictions .

6. Food Control : Food supply will present a serious problem soon . The obstruction of roads , railways and communications will be intensified ; towns will feel it the worst . Some plan of rationing will have to be thought out and some person (a Labour man for preference) put in control . If the Republic is to win out against the Free State and the British we shall have to face the idea of people suffering many privations , but if the 'Food Control' scheme was worked out it will not be so bad . In fact , it would compel a change from the present wretched economic outlook and make them rely on their own resources .

Many things that are now looked on as necessities would have to be done without - tea , sugar , foreign flour etc - but oatmeal , oatflour , barley and other wholesome food would be used . As a matter of fact , Ireland suffered nothing (comparatively speaking) either during the Great War or our war . English people (and English women) cheerfully put up with severe deprivations and we Irish think our Cause worth putting up with anything . But do we ? Judging by the whines and grumbles , one is tempted sometimes to say 'Certainly not' " .
(MORE LATER).